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Ireland
Ireland, officially known as the Republic of Ireland, is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean. It is separated from Great Britain to the east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea and St. George's Channel. It is also the second largest island of the British Isles, the third largest island in Europe and the twentieth largest island on Earth. It has a very tense political history with years of violent conflict against the United Kingdom led by the now defunct Irish Republican Army (IRA). The Irish mainland is divided into the Republic of Ireland (officially named Ireland) which covers the majority of the island and the bitterly disputed Northern Ireland which remains part of the United Kingdom. In 2011, Ireland had a population of roughly six and a half million making it the second-most populous island in Europe after Great Britain. Of this population, four and half million lived in the Republic of Ireland and rough two million lived in Northern Ireland. There is still great bitterness in Ireland over the supposed injustice of the continued English hold on Northern Ireland with simmering support for an Irish Reunification. The Republic of Ireland is geographically comprised of relatively low-lying mountains surrounding a central plain with several rivers extending inland. It is known for its lush vegetation, a product of its mild but changeable climate which avoids extremes in temperature. Thick woodlands covered the island until the Middle Ages. As of 2013, the amount of land that is wooded in Ireland is about 11% of the total, compared with a European average of 35%. The earliest evidence of human presence in Ireland is dated at 10,500 BC.12Gaelic Ireland had emerged by the 1st century CE. The island was Christianised from the 5th century onward. Following the Norman invasion in the 12th century, England claimed sovereignty over Ireland. However, English rule did not extend over the whole island until the 16th–17th century Tudor conquest, which led to colonisation by settlers from Britain. In the 1690s, a system of Protestant English rule was designed to materially disadvantage the Catholic majority and Protestant dissenters, and was extended during the 18th century. With the Acts of Union in 1801, Ireland became a part of the United Kingdom. A war of independence in the early 20th century was followed by the partition of the island, creating the Irish Free State, which became increasingly sovereign over the following decades, and Northern Ireland, which remained a part of the United Kingdom. Northern Ireland saw much civil unrest from the late 1960s until the 1990s. Famous people from Ireland include; Bono, Colin Farrell and Denis Leary. The country is heavily mentioned in the Sibling Rivalries ''franchise, being the place of birth of Maureen O'Neill and Aiden McReary, who met in 1992, moved to Canada between 1993 and 1997, and got married in 1998. Irish Characters GTA/T.J. Comic Productions Universe * Patrick "Packie" McReary * Francis McReary * Gerald "Gerry" McReary * Derrick McReary * Maureen McReary * Mr. McReary * Michael Keane * Gordon Sargent * The Celebinator GTA Expanded Universe * Gavin O'Reilly Irish products * Blarneys Stout Trivia * The northwestern neighborhoods of Dukes have a very strong Irish influence. * The Steinway Beer Garden and Lucky Winkles are traditional Irish bars. * The city of Belfast appeared in a flashback in the ''Sibling Rivalries: The Next Chapter comic "In Loving Memory of Aiden McReary", being revealed as the birthplace of Aiden McReary. Category:Sibling Rivalries Category:Countries